THE LIME FAMILY. 



There's perfume on every wind, 

 Music in every tree 

 Dews for the moisture-loving flower, 



Sweets for the sucking bee." N. P. WILLIS. 



THE XVII. Order, contains but three plants the 

 magnificent and far-famed Lime-trees ! One of the 

 first trees to rejoice us in Spring, with its light green 

 foliage ; and to regale us in July with its numerous 

 sweet-scented blossoms, is the LINDEN-TREE (Tilia 

 Europoea). The scent is ever accompanied with the 

 sound of the hum of bees, which fly to it in great 

 numbers, preferring the nectar of the Lime, to that of 

 almost any plant ; and honey made of it is much 

 esteemed. The flowers have no nectaries, but are 

 most carefully protected from rain or sun, by the 

 broad, and somewhat dome-shaped leaves, beneath 

 which the flowers are suspended. Their colour is of a 

 greenish-yellow. Calyx and Petals 5, on stalks, 

 springing from a large, lance-shaped bractese, which 

 falls off with the fruit and stalks. And as they fall 



